Outline of the Project

Project Name

Project for Strengthening Community-based Management Capacity of Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park

Country

Vietnam

Date of R/D Signed

September 24, 2009

Project site

Lam Dong Province (Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park)

Term of Cooperation

January 5, 2010 to January 4, 2014 (4 years)

Implementing Organization

Lam Dong Provincial Peoples' Committee, Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park Management Board (BNBNPMB)

Project Background

Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park (BNBNP) is located in northeastern part of Lam Dong Province, occupying 70, 038ha which is far bigger than the average areas of national parks in Vietnam. Established as a nature reserve in 1986, it was promoted as a national park in 2004. Geologically located in the center of 3 important Protected Areas- namely Chu Yang Sin National Park in the north, Phuoc Binh National Park in the east, and Lam Vien Landscape Reserve in the south- the BNBNP contributes to the conservation of biodiversity of the area by playing a role of a corridor among the Protected Areas. The Park is endowed with the forest ecosystem typical to sub-tropical high mountain climate which is composed of such wide variety of biodiversity as mountain evergreen tropical rain forest, coniferous & broadleaved mixed forest, high mountain dwarf forest, low mountain subtropical coniferous sparse forest, mossy forest and bamboo-broadleaved mixed forest. Having such wide variety of biodiversity, the Park has rich fauna and flora including 1,923 species of plants (including 96 endemic species) and 422 species of animals (32 of them are in IUCN red book) which were found in the Park according to the survey in 2009.The Park is among 221 bird watching areas in the world with endemic bird species.

In Vietnam, one of the richest countries in the world in terms of the biodiversity, the capacity building of the staff involved in the appropriate management of national park, which is the most important area among protected areas, is the most urgent and indispensable issue in the conservation of the precious biodiversity. Despite the fact that the Government has taken concrete measures for the conservation of biodiversity with the emphasis on national park such as the establishment of "Management Strategy for a Protected Area System in Vietnam to 2010" in 2003 and the designation of 18 new national parks since 2000, these efforts have not always lead to the realization of the appropriate management of national parks due mainly to the shortage of the technical support for the management of national park in addition to the insufficient financial support. Among the causes threatening the biodiversities of national parks, the human activities for making living within and around national parks by the local people is one of the biggest threats.

Adjacent to the Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park there live 5,067 households (26,028 persons), mostly ethnic minority people, who make their living by traditional agriculture. Since forests account for most parts in around the national park, arable lands are limited in the area, making lives of the local households very difficult to rely totally on the agriculture. It is considered that the poverty rate of the people living in the area exceeds 29% due to low agricultural productivity in addition to the above-mentioned limited availability of arable land per household. Under these circumstances, people living around the national park are compelled to convert the forest into arable land, to expand coffee plantation beyond the national park boundary, to hunt wild animals, to engage in illegal logging and to collect fuel woods. Thus, the biodiversity of the national park is under threat by the human activities.

In response to the above-mentioned issues, the Government of Vietnam formulated a plan composed of implementation of community-based ecotourism, improvement of people's livelihood and the enhancement of management capacity of the national park management office through environmental education. In 2007 the Government sent a request for the technical cooperation on the implementation of the above plan to the Government of Japan, which officially decided to implement a new JICA technical cooperation project based on the request. In May 2007, a survey was conducted by JICA to formulate a detailed plan for the project, the content of which was basically agreed upon by the organizations concerned such as People's Committee of Lam Dong Province and Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park Management Board (BNBNPMB). And based on the result of the survey, the Record of Discussions (R/D) was signed and exchanged by both sides on 24th September 2009 in Hanoi.

Overall Goal

BNBNPMB can manage natural resources of the national park with the target community groups in a collaborative manner.

Project Purpose

The capacity of BNBNPMB to manage natural resources in the national park is enhanced through development of a co-management model at the target villages.

Outputs

• 1. Implementation structure for the two components to be introduced by the project (community-based ecotourism: CBET and ecologically-friendly livelihood options: EFLO) is established.
• 2. Basic principles/ rules in management of natural resources in the national park are agreed on by the target community groups and BNBNPMB.
• 3. A trial run of CBET is carried out at the selected sites.
• 4. The EFLOs that can be accepted by the target community groups are developed and ready for dissemination among the communities.
• 5. Issues to be addressed and actions to be taken are clarified so that the target community groups will be able to continuously operate a CBET and/or practice the EFLOs introduced by the project.

Activities

1. Implementation structure for the two components to be introduced by the project (community-based ecotourism and ecologically-friendly livelihood options) is established.

2. Basic principles/ rules in management of natural resources in the national park are agreed on by the target community groups and BNBNPMB.

3. A trial run of CBET is carried out at the selected sites.

4. The EFLOs that can be accepted by the target community groups are developed and ready for dissemination among the communities.

5. Issues to be addressed and actions to be taken are clarified so that the target community groups will be able to continuously operate a CBET and/or practice the EFLOs introduced by the project.

Inputs

Japanese side

• 1) Japanese Experts:
  • Long-term: a Chief technical advisor concurrently as an expert in co-management, an expert in Community Development concurrently as a Coordinator
  • Short-term: experts in relevant fields; e.g., eco-tourism, coffee production, etc.
• 2) Training in Japan:
  • About 4 persons/ year in eco-tourism and livelihood improvement
• 3) Machinery and equipment:
  • Vehicle, motor bike, GPS, binoculars, office equipments, etc.
• 4) Activity costs:
  • Baseline Survey, Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA), Community-based Eco-tourism trials, development and extension of Environmentally-friendly Livelihood Options, construction of Community-based Visitor’s Center, etc.

Vietnamese side

• 1) Assignment of counterparts
• 2) Establishment of Lam Dong Provincial Steering Committee
• 3) Project office
• 4) Project office facilities
• 5) Project office maintenance costs
• 6) Counterpart fund application and management

Related projects

• 1) Japan's ODA
  • Long-term expert dispatched to Vietnam National Park and Protected Area Association from 1999 to 2001.
  • In-country training: "Capacity development on nature conservation, environmental education, and eco-tourism development" (2006.7-2009.3)
  • JOCV (environmental education) dispatched to the National Park (-2010.3)
• 2) Other Donors
  Currently, the following projects with assistance of other donors are ongoing in Lam Dong Province.
  • Co-management of Forests and Wildlife, Bidoup-Nui Ba National Park (WWF)
  • Vietnam Conservation Fund Project (GEF, EU, TFF)
  • Piloting an Approach to Multiple-Use Forest Management in Lam Dong Province (FSSP)
  • Forests for Livelihood Improvement in the Central Highlands (ADB)